In a recent update to its Supplier Responsibility webpage, Apple quietly announced it’s now tracking over 800,000 workers at supply chain factories in China and mentioned that 97% of those employees have 60-hour work weeks as mandated by that country’s laws. The number of 800,000 was first spotted by The Next Web and is a substantial increase from the 500,000 tracked workers reported in January. While the percentage of those working excessive hours was decreased over the intervening months, there has been no change in compliance since July.
Previously, in January, over 70,000 supply chain employees were working over 60 hours a week, though the number dropped quickly since then. The drop in numbers might possibly be a result to Apple’s partnership with the Fair Labor Association in February. After checking the data, there were still over 24,000 Chinese laborers working what Apple considers excessive hours as of August, however compliance with labor rules appears to be rising slowly.
Both Apple and Foxconn are pushing hard to raise working standards, a process that continues to yield positive results, as Foxconn previously became the target of a mass media firestorm. The issue was regarding labor abuse allegations sparked by a story from monologuist Mike Daisey which aired on NPR previously. The story was found to be a fabrication at the end and Daisey was forced to apologize, prompting high-profile publications to issue retractions as well.
Hopefully the trend to minimize excessive hours and unfair labor continues so no more issues arise.
Source: Apple via The Next Web
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